Hi.

It’s me. Brian. Rabbi Brian.

Writing to you, beloved.

How are you?
What’s going on?
How’s life?

Me?
Getting used to having a house without my son.

Earlier this month he started his freshman year at Wesleyan, in Middletown, CT.

And, I’m writing an article—in the form of a letter—that I’m planning to send to the ROTB membership list.

The topic? Love.

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I write and talk about love, compassion, and kindness.

Often.
A lot.
On repeat.

Someone who used to come to my services told me that they stopped coming because I was always talking about the same things.

Ha!

As though we could ever be “done” with regard to love, compassion, and kindness.

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Beloved,

I’m at a bit of an impasse.

I’m trying to figure out how to communicate—in a mass-sent, email-newsletter letter, written to a few thousand people—that I care about each person reading these words.

I know I can convey that I am caring and compassionate.
I know I can convey that I love.

But how do I get you to realize that I’m talking to you?

Of course, I could use automation to insert each person’s name, like this: <{{reader.first.last.name}}>.

But that doesn’t convey care, the real care that I have for you.

As I said, I’m at an impasse.

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It might not be solely my problem.

It is also up to you, the reader, to take in the love.

I can’t control you. There might be something in you, blocking you from taking in love.

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You might exclaim:

“You don’t know me. How can you claim to love me if you don’t know who I am?”

An excellent point.

But I don’t need to know everything (or even much) about you to love you.

(If you want to email me some details about you, please, go ahead.)

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Here’s how I figure I can love you despite not knowing you.

Daryl Davis—an African-American musician featured in the documentary
Accidental Courtesy—talks about learning about racism at the age of 10. He says he couldn’t process the idea that someone who had never seen him, never spoken to him, and knew nothing about him, would want to inflict pain on him.

He muses, “If people can hate for no reason, why can’t we love for no reason?”

Amen.

Love (and hate) can be offered (and accepted) without logical justification.

So, why not choose to love and to take in love?

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💙rB